Low-carbon tile technology moves towards scale-up

Dr. Aled Roberts, the founder and CEO of sustainable materials company, Dekiln, was awarded £3m of funding by The Royal Academy of Engineering as it took its ceramic-like composite material to market in December 2025. Now, the Manchester-based R&D start-up has entered into a strategic partnership with Johnson Tiles to accelerate the commercialisation of Dekiln’s proprietary processes and materials in the UK and beyond. In a statement, Dr Roberts said: “Johnson Tiles’ technical expertise, market reach and sustainability focus makes them an ideal partner to support our ambition to scale-up and commercialise our technology.” By combining plant-derived binders with waste mineral powders, such as recycled gypsum plaster, the finished product is said to look, feel and has similar properties to existing tiles, but does not need to be fired or glazed at high temperatures. Dekiln’s technology cuts embodied carbon by 94 per cent compared to traditional ceramic tiles and also contains over 95 per cent recycled content. “Johnson Tiles are really excited to be forming this partnership with Dekiln and look forward to adding our technical expertise and market knowledge to ensure this unique concept reaches its potential in the marketplace,” said Jason Bridges, procurement director at Johnson Tiles. “Aled’s fresh thinking on solving the recycling of waste, alongside removing the sintering process to create a product with all the performance and aesthetic qualities of traditional tiles without anywhere near the embodied carbon, is a real game-changer and a concept that aligns perfectly with Johnson Tiles’ sustainable thinking.” The novel composition is being backed by Intellectual property (IP) commercialisation specialists, Frontier IP. Frontier IP CEO Neil Crabb said: “Dekiln’s groundbreaking technology has strong potential. Johnson Tiles interest in forging a strategic partnership provides further validation of that, following on from Aled's success in being named as a Green Future Fellow by the Royal Academy of Engineering.” Johnson Tiles is also working with Dekiln to explore the possibility of establishing a pilot or demonstration plant in Stoke-on-Trent.